The Office of the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Protection of Personal Data, in its capacity as the supervisory and monitoring authority for personal data protection in the Republic of Albania, in the exercise of its legal competencies, is following with particular concern the publication and circulation in media and social networks of a news item containing information on the health status of several identifiable individuals in the Municipality of Gjirokastër.
Article 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and Law No. 124/2024 "On the Protection of Personal Data" guarantee the right to respect for private life and the protection of personal data.
Within the framework of the legislation in force on personal data protection, the Commissioner's Office emphasizes that data concerning health constitutes a special category of personal data (sensitive data), the processing of which, according to Article 9 of the law, is in principle prohibited and is permitted only in limited cases, as defined by this law. Consequently, the publication of personal data in the media, and especially of data related to health, in the absence of a legal basis and a clear, concrete, and overriding public interest, constitutes unlawful processing and is in violation of the legislation in force.